Chapter 957

Fifty commando engineers. When I heard Godunov bring up the old story again, although the weather was very cold, my heart was still warm. I know what he means. He wants these commanders and fighters to stay with me to protect my safety. Naturally, I couldn't live up to his kindness, so I pretended to think for a moment and then replied, "if the enemy wants to attack, our village will also be their target. At present, there are only about twenty soldiers in the village, and their strength is very weak. Well, major Godunov, if you don't mind, I'll leave them behind and strengthen the garrison in the village. "

When gordonov heard me say this, his face immediately showed a smile, and he quickly replied: "Comrade commander, I have no opinion. I will resolutely obey your order, so I will leave them to strengthen the garrison force in the village."

After deploying the mission and sending some commanders to leave, I asked Yushchenko to call Katerina in, saying that there was something important to discuss with her.

In fact, Katerina didn't go far. She was in the next room. When she heard Yushchenko say I was looking for her, she immediately ran over. As soon as he entered the door, he asked in a hurry, "Comrade commander, I heard that you are looking for me. Is there anything important?"

"Well, comrade Katerina." I politely said to her, "after all, the national defense fortifications in the west of the village have not been used for nearly two years. Some sections may need to be reinforced. However, our manpower is limited. I wonder if you could send someone to help us? "

"No problem, comrade commander." Katerina replied carelessly: "when the Germans just broke into our territory, we not only sent all the men in the village to the battlefield, but also gave all our things to the Red Army who fought in the front line. Now that you're going to fight the Germans, we'll do our best to help you. "

"How many of you?" After I finished this sentence, I found that there was something wrong. The village was full of women, and there were also elderly or sick people. They could not be counted among them, so I added, "how many people can take part in the construction?"

"There are still 217 people in the village now," Katerina said without hesitation after listening to my question. "There are about 170 people who can take part in voluntary labor, except those who are old and sick. They are all good hands at farm work, let alone repairing the works. "

170, which is more than I expected. Moreover, in my impression, women in the Soviet Union are more hardworking than men, so they nodded and said, "Comrade Katerina, this is really great. Please take the women comrades to the fortifications in the west of the village at eight o'clock tomorrow morning and ask major Godunov to arrange work for you. "

"All right, comrade commander." Katerina readily agreed, and then she took the initiative to say to me, "it's getting late. You should have a rest early."

After Katerina left, Yushchenko asked uneasily, "Comrade commander, is it really appropriate for the women in the village to help us reinforce the fortifications? You know, women are born with less physical strength than men. "

Hearing Yushchenko's remarks that he looked down on women, I said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade captain, you are right. In terms of strength, maybe women are born weak. But don't forget that they are no weaker than men in terms of hard work. It's not just strength that builds and strengthens fortifications. "

After teaching Yushchenko a lesson, I went to the operator and asked him, "Comrade operator, during this period of time, is there a new telegram coming?"

"No, comrade commander." The operator quickly stood up and reported to me, "so far, there have been no telegrams."

"Well, keep working. Report to me as soon as a telegram comes

"Yes The operator agreed loudly.

In recent days, I haven't had a good rest because I have been very busy. I went to the table and sat down. I just wanted to have a rest at the desk. I didn't expect that I didn't have much time and fell asleep.

It was not until I was shaken up by Yushchenko that I sat up straight and asked lazily, "Comrade captain, what time is it?"

"It's seven o'clock, comrade commander." When Yushchenko finished, he quickly explained the reason for waking me up, so that I would not blame him: "just now major Godunov sent someone to report that they had started to reinforce the fortification. And Katerina worked with the women and the soldiers

After hearing Yushchenko's report, I immediately stood up from my seat and said to him, "go, comrade captain, accompany me to have a look." Then he walked around the table and toward the door.

Yushchenko quickly followed, called several soldiers at the door, and followed me to the defense fortifications in the west of the village.

The fortifications in the west of the village were a busy scene. The soldiers, in groups of two, were carrying the logs cut down from the woods in the distance and heading for the trench to reinforce the collapsed area.

Seeing our arrival, Godunov immediately welcomed us. After saluting me, he reported: "Comrade commander, we are repairing the fortifications. Please give us instructions!"

"Please go on, comrade major."

"Don't stop, everyone. Keep working." Godunov yelled at the officers and men who stopped working because they saw me. Seeing that everyone was back to work, he said to me, "Comrade commander, I have checked. Except for the reinforced concrete blockhouse, most parts of the trench were collapsed by rain, and must be reinforced again. It's a lot of work. I don't know if we can finish all the reinforcement work before the enemy attacks. "

Maybe seeing me coming, Katerina came from the place where she was cutting down trees. Still far away, she yelled at me: "Hello, comrade commander, do you see? Our women don't have to be inferior to the young men in your team to work

"Well, comrade Katerina." I replied with a smile: "all the comrades in your collective farm are good. We can get your help and we believe that the reinforcement of the fortification will be completed soon."

At this moment, a soldier came from a distance. Seeing his look of panic, Godunov frowned, then pointed to the soldier and said to me, "commander, that soldier is one of the scouts I sent to town. Looking at his expression, I think something is wrong."

The Scout ran to us very quickly. He supported his waist with both hands and said breathlessly: "report... Report... Less... Comrade major..."

"Don't worry, speak slowly." Godunov came up to him, reached for his arm, shook it twice, and asked, "what did you find when you went to town for reconnaissance?"

The Scout company took a few deep breaths, then panted and said, "report major, when we were reconnoitering outside the town, we found that a large number of German troops had entered the town. The platoon leader decided that the situation was very serious. He ordered me to come back immediately and report to you. At the same time, he and other comrades continued to stay and watch the enemy."

"Comrade soldier, how many German troops have entered the town?" I was surprised to hear that the enemy had really increased troops in the town. I quickly stepped forward two steps, walked up to the scout and asked nervously.

When the Scout saw me suddenly appear in front of him, he immediately straightened up and reported to me, "yes... Sorry, comrade commander, I didn't notice you just now."

"Come on, don't say it's useless." Seeing the terrified scouts, I waved my hand and urged impatiently, "tell me quickly, how many troops does the enemy have?"

The Scout calmed down a little, and then replied, "there are about ten tanks and the same number of armored vehicles entering the town. Behind them are thirty covered trucks full of infantry. It is estimated that there are at least two companies."

"Do they have any sign of moving towards us?" I then asked. At the same time, I thought that if the German army really moved to our side in a short time, we would not have time to repair all the fortifications, then the commanders and fighters would have to rely on the damaged fortifications to fight a hard defensive war with the German army.

After hearing this question, the Scout immediately shook his head and replied, "report to the commander. According to our observation, it seems that the German troops have gone through a long journey. Maybe it will take a period of rest before they can fight again."

After listening to the Scout's report, I turned to Godunov and said, "Comrade major, the situation is very bad for us now, so if you want to speed up the reinforcement of fortifications, you must finish the repair work before the enemy attacks. Are you confident? "

Listening to my question, Godunov quickly straightened up and reported to me, "please rest assured, commander. I promise you that we will complete the repair work of the fortifications before the enemy's attack begins."

"Good, then I'll be at ease." With these words, I turned to Katerina and said, "Comrade Katerina, it is estimated that fierce fighting will break out in a short time. For your safety, as soon as the repair work is finished, you can lead the women to a safe place."

Katerina, after hearing this, shrugged her shoulders and said unexpectedly, "Comrade commander, as long as the Krauts are still on our land, there is no place safe here. I strongly ask you to leave our people behind and let them stay in the trenches with the Red Army soldiers and take revenge on the hateful invaders. "

"No, it's too dangerous here." I pointed to the busy commander not far away and said to Katerina, "do you see that? Many sections of the fortifications here can't be used at all. I don't trust women without any combat experience to stay in such dangerous places. "

Seeing Katerina's unhappy face, I slowed down and explained to her, "Comrade Katerina, there are many young girls among you. As a commander of the army, I have no right to let my future mother die worthlessly on the battlefield. "

"How can it be said to be worthless?" Although she heard what I said, Katerina still said stubbornly: "many of us have mastered certain military skills after the outbreak of the war, and can fight like a soldier. Please make sure that all our people stay

Seeing that she was so stubborn, I knew that it would be very difficult to persuade her in a short time, so I decided to step back so that the matter could be satisfactorily solved. After coughing and clearing my throat, I said, "Comrade Katerina, since all the women comrades in the village have such high fighting enthusiasm, it seems a bit inappropriate to refuse you directly." As soon as I spoke, Katerina's face immediately showed a bright smile. She said with pride, "Comrade commander, you are right. I'll tell you the good news right away. " With that, she was about to turn and leave. I took her by the arm and said, "don't worry, comrade Katerina. I haven't finished yet."“ You haven't finished yet? " Katerina looked at me and asked, "what else do you have to say?"“ Well, comrade Katerina I quickly explained to her, "although some of you have mastered combat skills, there is no need to put all of you in the trenches. Well, you choose twenty suitable people to join Major Godunov's forces. The rest of them were divided into two teams. One team was responsible for guarding the village with my security forces, in case of the Germans who came to attack the village by bypassing our defense line; The other team should not only be responsible for sending ammunition and supplies to the front line, but also try their best to carry the wounded back to the village for treatment. You have no problem with my arrangement? "“ No problem, comrade commander. " Katerina seemed satisfied with my arrangement, and then she said, "if you don't have anything to do, I'll go and arrange the staff."“ Go ahead, comrade Katerina, "I waved to her, and told her," if there is anything, you can come to major Godunov at any time. " As soon as Katerina left, Godunov whispered to me, "Comrade commander, is it appropriate to let the women in the village take part in the war? I'm afraid they'll get panicked when they see shells falling on their sides, exploding, bullets whizzing over their heads, and tanks coming fast. If they can't support it and turn around and run away, it will shake our morale. " Godunov's words are very reasonable. When I went to the battlefield for the first time, I trembled with fear. It is estimated that the performance of these women who have never been to the battlefield in the village will not be much better than me. It was with this in mind that I thought about it for a while, and then I told Godunov, "major, the women who will take part in the battle will be arranged in the bunker, where it is relatively safe. As long as they listen to more gunfire, they will soon be able to adapt to the battlefield